Some researchers have tried to use the regular rate at which error patterns appear in dog DNA as a kind clock to time their rise, but this has produced contradictory results.

BBC: Dog evolved 'on the waste dump'

From Willow, where the race clock starts ticking, mushers and their dog teams will begin making their way through unforgiving wilderness toward the finish line in the old frontier town of Nome on Alaska's western coast.

NPR: Iditarod Kicks Off With Festive Ceremonial Start

Check in: It's hard to shake the Agatha Christie vibe at the windswept inn, what with the grandfather clock ominously stopped at 4:20, a house dog named Winston, and a Friday-night wine and cheese party where you meet the other suspects, ahem, guests.

CNN: 10 dazzling hideaways by the sea

Inside the Dog News workspace are framed prints of dogs, bookshelves lined with back issues and a clock with dogs instead of numbers.

WSJ: A Magazine Gives Dogs Their Days